COMMUNITY VETERINARY OUTREACH
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Mission Statement
Community Veterinary Outreach (CVO) is a registered charity that aims to improve the health of people experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability and their pets through a “one health” model of care. By offering human health services and health education alongside preventative veterinary care, CVO seeks to improve access to veterinary and human health resources for an at-risk population, and leverage the human-animal bond to increase human health resource uptake. Although we provide pro-bono veterinary care, we are not solely an animal welfare organization. Our mandate is to improve the health and welfare of the client by providing health services and community connections that matter to them.
About This Cause
Community Veterinary Outreach was established in 2003 at The Mission, Ottawa, ON, by our founder, Dr Michelle Lem. Since then, we have scaled to many regions across the country, including Vancouver, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and 7 cities in Ontario. We provide preventive veterinary care using two models, including One Health clinics and pet fairs. Our events are held at various partner venues, including agencies such as Directions Youth Services in Vancouver, Cornerstone Shelter Services in Kelowna, Indigenous Family Centre in Winnipeg, Yonge Street Mission in Toronto, Inn from the Cold in York region, and Ottawa Salus in Ottawa. Our human health and interdisciplinary partners are vital to our organization and One Health model. We include student teams in all of our disciplines at clinic events. Our partners include primary nursing care teams (who provide primary care, wound care, immunizations), dental care access teams, pharmacy teams, smoking cessation and reduction and provision of free nicotine replacement therapy (via our Ottawa Heart Institute Model for Smoking Cessation team), and harms reduction teams that offer sexual health testing and naloxone kit/ training. What happens at a One Health Clinic? Dedicated volunteers deliver preventative animal health care such as physical exams, vaccinations, parasite control, and pet health education. We accept clients on a referral basis from community partnerships that include area shelters, municipal public health, community health centres, and mental health organizations. Eligibility criteria include: Receiving social assistance or disability support Referral by a case worker (affiliated with an agency partnered with Community Vet Outreach that works with homeless or vulnerably housed populations). No veterinary relationship with a clinic or vet within the last 12 months. Exceptions may include emergencies or spay/neuter. This helps us reach our target population of pet owners experiencing homelessness, that are street-involved, or vulnerably-housed. An appointment at a clinic is arranged by referral from a case worker at an agency partner. What happens at our One Health “Pet Fair for People Care”? Our pet fairs provide animal-related services such as pet health education and home care, nail trims, grooming, and microchip placement, as well as pet food and supplies. Pet fairs allow us to operate in smaller spaces in more neighbourhoods, have more events, and continue to focus on clients associated with our partner agencies. One Health Services All clinics and pet fairs have social and various health services imbedded within them, depending on the partnerships in the region. These services include smoking reduction and cessation, primary health care including flu vaccination, dental care access, harm reduction (naloxone kits, safe injection supplies), and healthy living/ exercise advice.